Sunday, 23 May 2010

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, has slammed the Bulgaria government’s decision to delay the full smoking ban in public places.

Jakab made WHO’s feelings known to the Bulgarian Deputy Health Minister, Desislava Dimitrova, in Geneva in the 63rd session of the World Health Assembly. WHO are also set to send an open letter to the Bulgarian Parliament over the delayed ban.

How very dare a democratically elected body not adhere to rules laid down by the WHO ... who are unelected and entirely unaccountable.

12 comments:

I Thought this was a matter for individual governments. The WHO has enough skelatons in its closet, well hidden, certainly,but could it be that their previous cock-ups should again see the light of day,like the swine flue fiasco, to start with.

Would it not be wonderful if the Bulgarian government replied, "Just FUCK OFF! and leave us alone!"

But it would be even better if they took the initiative and upbraided the WHO for the massive scandal of waste and failure to address the really serious problems of the peoples of Africa, which is really what the WHO was set up to address.

Like all such organisations, the WHO started off as a worthy body with the interests of the most deprived in mind, but, as we have seen with the EU, the top people cannot stop themselves trying to 'push the boundaries'.

It really is very important for the likes of the USA, UK etc to stop calculating minor advantages of having the WHO to blame for this and that bans. These organisations need to be de-funded and scrapped and start again - with specific, clearly defined objectives.

This idea is very obvious, so why cannot Obama etc not get to grips with it?

The WHO is in the engine room of all the world's smoking bans. They produced in 2005 the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). It has 168 signatures from world wide governments. All Bulgaria has to do is withdraw from it.

The UK and probably all of Europe are signatories and I received an email the other day saying that the EU is probably in breach of its own contitution in signing up to it.

Most citizens in Bulgaria see EU directives as little more than the USSR directives that they were forced to implement when under USSR rule until 1989.

The Bulgarians realised that a full smoking ban would greatly damage their economy and so amended it with the full backing of their citiens.

The full smoking ban isn't delayed by the way ...it's gone.

lf owners of cafes, restaurants, bars etc want non-smoking they can have it ... but the choice is theirs. 'Choice' ... what a wonderful word.

lncidentally, last week l was in the British Embassy in Bulgaria because on their website they had under travel advice that you could only take 200 cigarettes out of Bulgaria. This restriction ended on 1st Jan 2010! There is no limit at all to the amount one can take out for personal use.

Bulgarian Customs Officers were using the British Embassy's travel advice as a means of 'mugging' tourists on the way out of Bulgaria. They gave you the option of either flying without your cigarettes etc or not flying at all.

l know this because they tried it on me but l didn't fly which rather took them by surprise. l then accussed the British Embassy of being complicit in this robbery. How could they not know the restrictions had been lifted? They are the British Embassy in Bulgaria ffs! This mugging has been going on for 4 and a half months! When travellers are faced with a Bulgarian Customs Officer brandishing information from the British Embassy, no wonder they left their goods and flew without them.

l got a written apology from the Embassy and one from the Vice Director of Bulgarian Customs ... and the travel advice has now been amended.

So if you are ever flying out of Sofia Airport you won't see any signs saying you are only allowed 200 cigarettes etc and if Bulgarian Customs Officers try it on you can now quote the correct info from the British Embassy!

My last restocking trip was last year but to Madrid (Bulgaria now far cheaper). l was stopped in UK by Customs and he asked me why l'd bought so many. l asked him 'lf you could buy petrol at 50p a litre, would you buy a few litres or as much as you could transport?' He shut up and l went on my way ... with my goods.

l have written to the British Ambassador (Steve Williams) in Bulgaria as to why such an important piece of legislation regarding personal shopping was never reported on their website and would he find out how many UK Citizens had fallen foul of Bulgarian Customs in these past 4 and a half months (actually l doubt very many are documented and their goods have simply 'disappeared')

Bulgarian Deputy Health Minister, Desislava Dimitrova should be careful with his choice of words and position in opposition to the unelected dictatorial WHO's worldwide smoking ban decree. Anyone voicing opposition to the UN, WHO, FCTC, EU or the illiberal-nonprogressive Demokratic/RINO Party Cooperative in the US runs the risk of a dangerous aeroplane landing, as an uncooperative Polish government recently discovered. The smoking ban is a number one imperative in maintaining the divide and conquer mentality, the idea of pitting good comrade spies against nonconforming comrade individualists and mass compliance to an ideology that requires a comrade has no inherent rights and liberties what-so-ever, unless or until the state permits it. It's about the kontrol, comm-fascist style.